If the pictures post then what you are seeing is a 13' 4" gator me and the wife, Louann, caught. He was not overly fat, maybe 650# to 700#. Still be was heavy enough to where with 2 rods, a 50# and a 80#, we could not get him up. After messing with him for about 45 minutes we finally had the bright idea to attach one of our snag hooks to a piece of harpoon line. Figured that with the heavier rope to hold on to we could put more pressure on him.

Problem was keeping both rods hooked up and working the rope with the hook too. First time I drug it up to him and tried to set it he went crazy, knocking out not only the hook on the rope but also one of the hooks on a rod. Got lucky in that the one the wife had, the 50# one, stayed in.

And did I mention that a gator will give a rope burn?

Takes a couple of efforts but we finally get the second big rod back hooked up. Then we try the rope trick again. This time we pulled him up VERY slow hoping that he would no bolt. So you've got to picture this. Wife has both rods and I've got the rope in one hand and the harpoon in the other. He comes up nice and easy.......and I blow it. He bolts at just the instant I try and set the harpoon. Rope hook falls out but wife manages to hold on to both rods.

Get up over him again and set the rope hook again. This time the harpoon hits good. Takes a few minutes but we put 2 more into him and then haul him up to bangstick.

Now he's dead but he is so darn heavy that after we get him taped there is no way, even with the block & tackle we carry in the boat, 3/4 inch rope and a REAL set of blocks, we can get him over the stern. So we set about lashing him to the side. Have to do that because, as you'd know, there is not another boat in sight.

And it's well over 15 miles back to the ramp!

So we start idling along with him lashed to the side. Go about a mile or so when the wife gets this idea that we can pull up under this dock, the only one for miles!, and then use the block & tackle to hoist the gator up a bit and then use the boat motor to shove the boat under the gator. Hard to explain it but it sounds like a good idea.

We push up next to the dock and as we're trying to figure out how to attach things here comes a OLD commercial bait fisherman. He agrees to help. After about 10 minutes of him and I pulling on the gator and the wife hauling on the B&T we have gotten nowhere.

Next thing he and I know the wife hops out of the boat, into neck deep water, pushes the boat hard against the dock so it can't move and starts yelling at us to pull on the gator while she lifts and shoves the back end!

It's amazing how seeing a woman do something so crazy will get you going. Took about 5 minutes and he was on the stern. I don't think the old fisherman will ever be the same.

If you look at the pictures you can see that she is soaked. Woman is not right.........

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

George Bernard Shaw

rantingredneck

September 17, 2009, 08:34 PM

I just showed this to Mrs. RR..........her exact words were something like, "There's no <expletive> way...."

Thats a nice gator!!!

Swampghost

September 17, 2009, 08:35 PM

Really nice gator!

Where do you find a wife like that?

Gbro

September 17, 2009, 09:43 PM

Wow!,
That is wild!
How old could it be? How big do they get??

guntotin_fool

September 17, 2009, 11:15 PM

Woman can't be right, she married you.....

what becomes of a critter like that once home and hanging...... meat ? boots? dog food? seriously I have no idea.

FrontSight

September 17, 2009, 11:54 PM

That is so full of WIN on so many levels

Buzzcook

September 18, 2009, 12:24 AM

No doubt about it, you gotta get a bigger boat:eek:

Not quite as big as the one you posted last year, but geez that's big.

simonkenton

September 18, 2009, 04:52 AM

Great story and pics!

LeopardCurDog

September 18, 2009, 02:06 PM

Nice! Gator too!;)

Old Grump

September 18, 2009, 02:33 PM

Wife is a keeper, might suggest pontoon boat with a power winch. You eating the meat?

hogdogs

September 18, 2009, 02:39 PM

bswiv may not agree but the pontoon won't "run and gun" like a traditional hull nor have the maneuverability needed for these activities...
top speed getting to the spots may also be an issue for most.
Brent

critter44

September 18, 2009, 04:40 PM

That is quite a lizard! You've got quite a wife too! Nice haul-twice.

Dragon55

September 18, 2009, 04:43 PM

Good golly gargantuan gator!!! Hey your wife have any sisters??? She is awesome:):):)

bswiv

September 19, 2009, 03:44 AM

1. HD is right about the boat. We hunt them on the open water areas of the St. Johns river system in NE FL. Need the speed as we are kind of aggressive about it.

2. Meat from most of our gators gets sold out of our fishmarket, either to the public or to restaurants. And we sell almost all of it. Have ethnic customers that buy the legs for a traditional Chinese soup. The tail and body meat mostly goes to folks who are going to fry it. The ribs end up grilled just as you would hog.

Heads get sold too. Raw they are worth little as it's a BIG job to clean them up. The skins get scraped and salted then are sold too. Sadly skin prices are low this year. The world economy has hit the luxury goods market hard so gator luggage is not is such big demand.

This one, because he was unusually large, we sold whole to a taxedermist who will mount it and then he'll sell for a display someplace. Not to many caught each year that are really over 13 feet, maybe 5 or so...?

3. Wife does have a sister. The sister will not go where there is not A/C. She's defective!

shortwave

September 19, 2009, 05:43 AM

As always, beautiful footage of your hunts. BTW, if you keep posting these Fla. freshwater pics. your going to put me back in debt. New bassboats aren`t cheap:rolleyes:. Your bringing back some very good memories:D.

stephen426

September 19, 2009, 11:39 PM

Wow! Thats a big gator! I sure as heck would not be jumping in the water where one of those might be lurking! Heck! It might want revenge for killing his brother! Congrats on the gator and the wife! Winners on both counts!